Lori Tan Chinn is an American actress and comedian. She was a recurring character in the

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series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' and currently stars as Awkwafina's Grandma on

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's '' Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens'' (2020–present.) Chinn began her acting career on Broadway, where she played Miss Higa Jiga in ''

Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen ''Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'' is a musical with a book by John Patrick and music and lyrics by Stan Freeman and Franklin Underwood. Overview The musical is based on Patrick's 1953 play and screenplay '' The Teahouse of the August Moon''. It ...

'' (1970.) She was also a notable member of the Katherine Dunham Company and performed African dance with

Syvilla Fort Syvilla Fort (July 3, 1917 – November 8, 1975) was an American dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher. Born in Seattle, she drew on her African-American heritage in her original dance works. American composer John Cage wrote his first piece fo ...

Early life

Chinn was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. She is of Hoisan, Chinese descent. Chinn moved to New York City by herself in 1969.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinn, Lori Tan Living people American people of Chinese descent American film actresses Actresses from Seattle American musical theatre actresses American television actresses 1948 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses